3 strange natural fences that changed the world
The Great Wall of China gets all the press. But walls made of natural materials can be just as fascinating and bizarre. These three prove it.
1. Kano and the wall of earth
Visiting Nigeria? Then you should see the medieval walls that surrounded Kano. The catch? They were made of dirt.
The earth walls surrounded the entire city. Built in the 1100s, they had dual purposes: to protect the citizens of the city and to help facilitate trade. As a major center of commerce at the time, Kano dealt with people from around the globe and with every type of trade—including the slave trade. The walls helped create a sense of order in a disorderly era.
2. The Great Hedge that split India
Properly known as the Inland Customs Line, the Great Hedge was the tool the British used to split India in order to administer the salt tax (which Gandhi famously protested).
The structure ran more than 2500 miles and was a mix of hedging, natural borders (like water), rocks, and manmade walls. It was actively patrolled by customs workers and stayed in operation until 1879 (the tax lasted until 1946). The Indian plum was the most common individual plant, but the hedge was a mix of many.
3. Osage orange: Nature’s barbed wire
Hedging isn’t just a British phenomenon. Osage orange helped fence in the West for years.
The plant, also called hedge apple, is famous for being sharp enough that it could serve as a substitute for barbed wire. Of course, planting hedges takes a lot more time than stringing up some barbed wire, and when barbed fencing was invented it quickly replace osage orange. However, osage orange had a use in barbed wire, too, since its strong wood made for great fence posts.
Outside of barbed wire, the unique plant still had its uses as a fence—in the 1930s, FDR initiated a project called the Great Plains Shelterbelt. Its goal was to serve as a windbreaker to prevent soil erosion and drought, and osage orange was one of the many plants they used.
In case you were curious, the fruit is edible. Unfortunately, most people report that it has a chemical taste, so it probably works better as a fence than as a snack.
